Dalton's Future Generation
by P Bostwick
Summary: A story about the children of CP Coulter's Dalton characters, a spin-off of Glee. I do not own Glee or Dalton.
1. Chapter 1

High School Orientation. Always a great and intimidating day. Of course, when its your parents alma mater, and your parents basically destroyed the school, its just pure fun. Which is what it felt like for Ian and Alex. The sons of the infamous Ethan and Evan Brightman. Evan, after marrying Penny, had twins, Ian and Iris. Ethan, after marrying Penny's twin Penelope, also had twins, Anna and Alex. They all lived in the same house. Ian and Alex both had wavy brown hair and brown eyes, and heights of 6 ft

Ironically, Matthew Sullivan, David and Katherine's son was their tour guide. "Matthew!" The screamed, rushing up to hug him. Matthew was a lanky senior, with straight, chestnut brown hair.

It was at this time that Alan Houston; Dwight and Dahlia's child was spotted hanging on the edge of the group, looking bored. He looked like his mother, with blue eyes and light brown hair, bleached from the sun. Alan was tan from spending the summer on the California coast. Evidence of California was so evident in his clothes, Board shorts and a dark green t-shirt.

Matthew cleared his throat and gestured towards Alan. Ian and Alex turned their attention to the other boy. They hesitated, however, to run to him. Alan had changed this past summer. He seemed less ready to be attacked by a hurricane of crazy Brightmanness, and more ready to go surfing.

Ian and Alex instead walked up to Alan and started making small talk. "Hey." Alex called. Alan just nodded to him. "How was summer in California?" Ian asked.

"Good. Sunny. Warm." Alan replied, looking like he couldn't believe he had to be at Dalton. Alan was beginning Dalton as a sophomore. His dad had put him in public school, in an attempt to spare him. Dahlia, his mother, convinced him to transfer though, despite his father's protests. Ian and Alex just looked at him. Then they each grabbed an arm of his and pulled him over to Matthew.

"Ready for the tour?" Matthew asked. The boys nodded, and followed Matt the senior as he started walking off. "I'm sure you guys know all this already, but its mandatory for me to say it, so let's just get through it so I can show you guys the good stuff." Matt stopped in front of Stuart house. "There are three boarding houses at Dalton. Stuart, Hanover, and Windsor. Each is unique in how it handles its boarders. There are also day students, who do not stay in the dorms." Matthew started his speech about staying in Dalton. All three of them just looked at him with blank stares.

The group started walking again, winding around the brick buildings, across neatly trimmed lawns, and eventually into the classrooms. "This here is the main hall, with the science, English, and mathematics wings branching off, along with the arts wing." Matthew droned on, leading them down the arts wing, and stopping outside an oak door. "This is the choir room, home of the famous Warblers. I imagine you will know many people who will come here, if you yourselves don't."

"Listen, this is great and all, but we already know it." Alex complained. He and his cousin really just wanted to get something to eat, and then hang out with their buddies in Windsor. "I'm hungry." Ian agreed. Matt just rolled his eyes.

"I had forgotten about young people's appetites. Alright, to the cafeteria." The group tramped down the hall and into the sunny cafeteria. They all grabbed a bag of chips and a pop from the vending machines in the corner near the back. As they sat down, the senior asked "Any questions?"

"Uhh… yeah." Alan piped up. "If our parents were in a house, does that mean we have to be in the same one as they were?"

"Well, I think they automatically put you in the same one, but you can request to move, if you want. Why?" Matt glanced at Alan.

"Oh. Just wanted to know if I was going to have to change houses. I want to stay in Hanover." Alan replied, opening his bag of Sun Chips. The rest of the group's mouths dropped open.

"Why? No disrespect to Hanover, they're the most level headed people I know, but knowing your parents, I would assume –" Matthew was cut off my the younger boy.

"Let me just get one thing straight. I'm nothing like my parents. I'm not cult crazy like my father, or some weird punk, semi-goth person like my mother. I'm normal. And I don't think I'd do very well in the Windsor mad house environment." Alan said, defiantly. Alex and Ian just looked worried.

"Cool. It's a good thing too. You have no idea the trouble your father caused." Matthew laughed to himself a little, remembering the stories his father had told him. "One less person to worry about, I guess." Alan gave him a grateful glance, thanking him for not arguing. "However, we do need to make a stop at Windsor, everyone wants to say high, and good luck on your first days here."

With that the group got up and headed back outside. It was warm outside, even for September and by the time they reached Windsor the boys were shedding their jackets. Matt threw open the doors to the main hall and called out. "We're here!"

Darren Anderson-Hummel, Forrest Anderson-Van Kamp, and Eric Amos came flying down the stairs. "Ian! Alex! Alan!" Darren yelled. "I'm so glad you made it!" Hugs were exchanged, as Forrest greeted them also.

"I hope your rooms are near ours. The parents have instructed us to keep an eye on you guys." Forrest, with his curly red hair and wiry frame remarked, ushering everyone into the lounge. Everyone sat down, happy to rest their feet for a while.

"That might be difficult for you guys. I guess Nick will have to look after Alan." Matthew said, mentioning Nicholas Bancroft, a junior boarder at Hanover, and Justin and Cassandra Bancroft's son.

"What's this? Not a Windsor boy, Alan?" Eric asked, looking at him, and running a hand though the brown hair that always got in his eyes. Alan just shook his head. "Can't say I blame you. I've thought about making the change to Hanover many times, myself. Guess I'm just too lazy." Eric shrugged.

"Oh shut up. You love it hear, and you know it." Forest quipped to Eric. "You'll probably make prefect next year, if your fathers anything to go by." Forrest was referring to Charlie Amos, Eric's dad. Eric chucked a pillow at Forrest, who caught it mid-air and whipped it back at him. "Take that! Try to hit me will you."

"With your parents, I was expecting you to fall of the couch and get a concussion." Eric muttered, turning to Ian and Alex. "Are you guys boarding here? Or are you leaving us to?"

"Are you kidding? I'll be surprised if Windsor can even handle us." Ian exclaimed. "We're going to tear this place apart, old school." Alex agreed.

"If Windsor survived your dad's onslaught of crazy, I'll think it'll get through you to just fine." Darren shook his head at them, upsetting his mass of blonde curly hair. The boys just smirked at him. "That doesn't mean you should try to find out, though." The junior looked slightly frightened.

"Where is Brennan? Wasn't he supposed to be here?" Forrest asked, looking around.

"He's probably in the art room, grabbing some clay or something. I heard him talking to himself about a new inspiration earlier today." Aden Siegerson, another blonde, this time with short hair, answered, walking through the big door.

All talk in the room stopped as everyone looked at Aden. He stood about 5 ft 6 and The Windsor boarders didn't look too happy at seeing him. "I'm just answering the question. Besides, I want to say hi and welcome to Dalton to the new comers." Aden waved to the boys, and backed out of the room, seeing he wasn't wanted.

"Who was that?" Alan asked. The rest of the boys turned back to him, all a little apprehensive.

"That was Aden Siegerson, Derek and Ashley Siegerson's son. Our parents had some…. Complications, let's call them. His father was in Stuart." Matthew told him. "He's best friends with Brennan, so we tolerate him, but otherwise he's just a big suck-up." Brennan was Wes and Becca Hughes son.

"Let's indoctrinate them some other time. But for now, we need to get back to the main hall so they can hand out information and junk." Matthew got up, and headed towards the door, stopping to wait for the other three boys. Then heading on their way.

"They still don't like me. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Is it because of my father?" Aden was sitting in Fabian's dorm room, lamenting yet again about his Windsor troubles.

"Why don't you just come room at Stuart? It would end all this unpleasantness." Fabian asked. He had spiked strawberry blonde hair and gentle green eyes. He handed Aden a bottle of his special blend of orange juice, red Gatorade, blue pixie sticks, and sparkling water.

"I can't just leave Brennan there by himself. He would be destroyed." Aden shuddered at the thought of Brennan staying in Windsor without him.

"Not to mention the fact that you would miss him too much." Fabian teased. Aden looked up at him worried. Aden was about to say something when Fabian came in with "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. You're secrets safe with me." Fabian, son of Logan Wright and Julian Larson, had heard stories about this sort of thing, but had never really experienced it first hand.

"You had better not. It's still really fragile. We're not ready to tell anyone." Aden was one of those nervous types. All he had wanted was a few good friends, a nice girlfriend, and good grades. That was evidently too much to ask. Instead, what he got was way more complicated. He had fallen in love with his roommate. Who just so happened to be Brennan. A silver lining, Brennan loved him too, and they lived together, but it made everything so much harder.

"I think everything might be easier if you just told everyone. The way I see it, it would go one of three ways. Number one," Fabian held up one finger. "Everyone finally excepts you and his friends will be nice and finally realize you're not a bad person. Number two," Fabian lifted his second finger. "No one really cares, because they either expected it or figure its not really going to change anything. And number three," He lifted his third finger. "It blows up in your face. Everyone hates you and shuns Brennan. Fights break out as you two try to defend yourselves against the onslaught of harassment."

Aden looked at Fabian like he was a monster. "How could you even say that? This is why we're keeping it quiet." Aden started to worry even more before he noticed Fabian laughing. "You're not helping, you know."

"Hey! You've got to admit, it's kind of funny. Brennan is one of the shyest, nicest kids ever and you mean nothing but good and you're all worried what everyone will think. You guys should know that no one really cares anymore. Not after our parents generation went through here." Fabian protested, attempting to calm Aden down. "Do you ever talk about this with him?" the Stuart asked.

"No. He's got enough he needs to worry about." Aden replied cautiously.

"Well you might want to. He could have the same concerns, or give you a new perspective on the whole thing. I'm no relationship expert, but aren't you supposed to communicate with your boyfriend?" Fabian advised. Aden just nodded, knowing his friend was right. Sighing, he left his friend's room and headed back to Windsor.

* * *

"What'd I miss?" Brennan asked, walking into the common room, where all his friends were sitting. Brennan was short, maybe 5 ft 3 at best with gray eyes and prominent freckles that set of his dark brown hair. Darren was sprawled out on the couch doing Calculus while Eric practiced lines from the school play with Forrest.

"Not much. Matt and the boys dropped by. You know Alan? Yeah, he's not rooming with us." Darren answered without looking up from his math book.

"Turns out he's more a Hanover boy. Though I could've sworn he would fit right in here before I think something happened this summer that we don't know about." Forrest explained.

"He's sixteen guys. Let's give him a break. He probably is just worried about how well he's going to fit in here. And it's not as if we're the easiest house to stay at." Eric reasoned.

Brennan dropped himself into the big chair next to the couch and pulled a small rubix cube. "Wish I had been there. How are Ian and Alex?"

"Like they always are. Excited and energetic. I don't think there's a force in the universe that could change that." Forrest told him.

"You'd be surprised." Brennan said quietly, almost to himself. He continued working on his puzzle, wondering what could've happened over the summer.

Darren glanced at Brennan. "You're awfully quiet today." he remarked. Brennan was always quiet, but usually he carried on the conversation for a little while before going silent.

"Just thinking, is all." Brennan mumbled back, fiddling with the rubix cube.

"That's all you seem to ever do. You need a sport." Eric told him. "It's not like there's any shortage of them here. Fencing, rowing, football, cricket..." he trailed off

"I think I'll stick with my sculpting, puzzles, and academia, thank you." Brennan gave Eric an exasperated look. He had heard the sport speech many, many times.

"Hey, I don't have a sport and you never lecture me." Forrest pointed out to Eric.

"You build stuff though. You're head isn't always buried in books and you're not always going to museums." Darren argued. Not that he wanted anyone to get a sport. He couldn't care less.

"And you play guitar. For a band." Eric added, "Artsy boy over here though couldn't play anything to save his life."

"Which is exactly why I'm going to stick to my current activities." Brennan said, ending the conversation by walking of the room.

"He sure is cranky today." Eric announced, after watching Brennan leave.

"Of course he's cranky. You've been giving him the same speech about sports ever since I can remember. Maybe he's finally had enough." Darren said, looking at Eric a little disbelievingly.

"Well good for him if he is." Forrest remarked, looking back at the script he and Eric had been practicing. "Anyway, auditions are in a week and I want to nail this part, so let's start from the beginning." Forrest instructed, getting into character. Eric just rolled his eyes and flipped back to the beginning.

* * *

Alan was just wandering around campus looking at everything and nothing. Every detail was the same as his father, Dwight, had described it. Nothing changes much when your legacy lasts several hundred years.

But the feel of the place was different. There were no ghosts or evil specters or shadowy monsters. But he had expected that, he wasn't crazy like his dad. But what he hadn't expected was the sense of what he would later call individual conformity. It was the sense that you could be who you want as long as who you wanted to be fit within their standards. Alan didn't know if there was room for him.

Alan was walking down a small path; staring glossy eyed at all the fall flowers and the turning colors of the leaves when he heard someone coming up behind him. Alan could here the persons light steps as the crunched on gravel and dry leaves. "Alan!" it was Brennan. He could tell without even turning around. Alan slowed his pace until his older friend caught up. "I'm glad I found you."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Alan asked. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere for a while and he didn't really feel like talking.

"No. Nothings wrong. At least not that I know of. But there is something wrong, isn't there?" Brennan asked with concern in his voice. Alan gave him a funny look. "We've all noticed it. You've changed. You seem older, more preoccupied. The other guys think its just starting boarding school but I feel it's something else."

Alan shook his head no. "nothings changed and I'm not worried. I just want to escape everyone's expectations for me."

"And you think going blonde and living in Hanover is going to do it?" Brennan asked, skeptically. Alan just shrugged. "Cuz it's not going to. People will see you're different from your family within five seconds of meeting you. You don't have to go to all this trouble, especially when you seem unhappy about it."

"What if I really just want to stay at Hanover? Or be blonde? Or live in California? Or be a psychiatrist?"

"Then that's your choice. No one should force you into something you don't want to do or be. And if you feel pressure, talk to someone. I'm here. Anytime." Brennan comforted.

"You say that but I dot think you have experience in the sort of troubles I'm having." Alan argued

"Pressure to be like your parents? I get that all the time. My mother was a dancer and my father a singer. They are both really smart too. I'm none of those." Brennan pointed out.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Alan muttered, walking faster.

"Then what are you talking about? You can't run away from it, obviously so slow down and tell me like an adult." Brennan said, slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with the now running Alan.

Alan stopped suddenly, turning around. "Have you ever had a huge secret that you want to tell everyone? Something that you are both nervous and excited about but you don't know how anyone will react so you don't say a word?" he asked with fierce intensity.

"Yes." Brennan replied with the same intensity. "My roommate and I have been going out for a year and a half and I love him but we haven't told anyone."

"You think that's bad? Try having a pregnant girlfriend." Alan challenged. Brennan just stared at him. "That's what I thought." he said, turning around. Alan resumed walking.

"H-h-how? Whe-when?" Brennan stammered from where he stood, rooted to the ground by the news.

"I think you know how. And this summer." Alan turned around, walking backwards now. "Her names Beth and she lives in Santa Cruz." Brennan ran to catch up to Alan. He grabbed the sophomore and pulled him towards a small, isolated garden, one of the few safe places to talk at Dalton.

"Okay now. From the beginning." Brennan sat on the only bench, looking at Alan, who was sitting next to him. Alan just looked at him defiantly. "I was spending the summer in California..." Brennan prompted. Alan sighed, giving in.

"I was spending the summer in San Francisco. About three weeks into summer I was wandering around japantown when I met Beth. Long story short, I asked her to dinner. She told me she was from Santa Cruz but was in S.F. for a summer education program. We started spending all our free time together. Then one night, we got a little tipsy and one thing led to another..." Brennan just nodded. "Well a month later Beth shows up crying and explains she's pregnant. She says she keeping it too. Though she give me the option of having nothing to do with the child."

"What did you say?" Brennan asked hesitantly.

"I proposed." Alan said simply. "She said no. Beth said she didn't want to raise her child in an unstable environment and she didn't know how she was going to feel about me in a year or a decade."

"And how do you feel about her?" Brennan coaxed.

"I love her." Alan said it with absolute certainty that Brennan didn't doubt it. The Houston's are very loyal people. "I just don't know how to tell my family. Or her family. I know it's not what they want for us.

"I'm willing to bet they just want you guys to be happy. So as long as you are they won't have any problems. The bigger question is what are you going to do in seven months?" Brennan asked

"I'm either going to transfer out there, or Beth will transfer here. And we'll go from there." Alan replied, standing up. Brennan got up also.

"Beth sounds like she's handling this very well for a sixteen year old." Alan nodded in agreement as the two left the garden.

The pair jogged back to Windsor, for it was getting dark outside. "I understand why you want to stay at Hanover now." Brennan panted as they neared the dorm. "Its the only place you'll ever get peace."

"Yeah. But I bet Windsor madness is nothing compared to baby crazy." Alan quipped. Brennan laughed.

"Care to find out?" he asked, opening the door and walking inside and into wonderland.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for taking so long on this chapter. Thank you to all the people who have read my story, and gave me reviews. Thank you to all the people who put me on alert and put me on their favorites. I love you all! 

**I do not own Glee or Dalton**

Chapter 2

"You have to tell him. He needs to know." Brennan pushed. "It probably won't even be that bad. I bet he'll be happy for you." Brennan was sitting in the Windsor house common room, talking to his troubled housemate.

Alan looked at his friend incredulously. "Knowing dad, he's going to want to give her a freaking exorcism! Which believe me, she cannot handle right now."

Brennan laughed a little at this. "Come on, I'm sure Dahlia would hold him back a little. Or you could always just sedate him. Slip him some Nyquil, no one will have to know," he suggested jokingly, miming putting something in food.

"I could, but I don't even know where he is. And dad doesn't like it when I bother him." Alan shrugged as if there was nothing more he could do.

"You know exactly where he is." Brennan stated flatly. "Dwight is with all of our parents at their annual celebration for getting rid of us for 9 months at school." Brennan took out his cell. "No more excuses. Call. Now." he commanded, motioning for the boy across from him to take the phone.

Alan sighed, and just reached into his pocket for his own phone. He quickly found his father in the contacts and hit call. It went straight to voice-mail. Alan hung up. Brennan looked confused. "And...?"

Alan shook his head, hair falling in his face. "Voicemail. And I'm not leaving a message for this sort of news." His blue eyes looked tired. "I've got to go study." He left Brennan sitting by himself in the common room.

Brennan just sat there, not moving. He had a lot on his mind, and it was wearing him down. It wouldn't be so bad if he could unload everything on someone, but when you keep everybody's secrets, whom do you turn to for your own? It was like being a therapist without the paycheck. Brennan thought about his next piece of art. He was thinking of doing a sculpture. Maybe one of those polygonal prisms that seem to change shape and size as you view it from different angles. The gray-eyed boy liked the idea of changing perspectives.

For the next hour or so, Brennan would continue to sit, not focused on anything, just letting his mind drift.

Forrest was slouching in an auditorium chair, watching as one person after another took the stage. It was try-out week, and every boy who thought he had so much as a molecule of talent auditioned. This year, the drama teacher had selected Spamalot as the winter production. While most students had no clue as to what Spamalot was, Forrest had seen it twice. He was a huge Monty Python fan. The red haired boy felt this justified him getting the lead. Well, that and he had a natural gift of performing. The previous years, Forrest had just played in the band, too nervous to actually try out. But now that he was an upper-classman, there was some favor shown.

As a particularly bad rendition of 'Where Are You?' finished, the director called out for all people who were auditioning for King Arthur to report backstage. One by one, the students sung their piece. Almost everyone sang 'King Arthur's Song'. Forrest knew this was going to happen, so he had practiced 'I'm All Alone', so as to distinguish himself among his mediocre classmates. He was the second to last person in line to go. The boy behind him laughed to himself as yet another 'King Arthur's Song' was played.

"This is a school full of geniuses, but I seem to be the only one who thought of singing a different song." the last person remarked. Forrest turned around at that. He didn't like the idea of someone else singing the same song as him. It was the whole reason he had picked the nonstandard piece.

"Actually, you're not the only one. I'm singing 'I'm All Alone' as my solo." Forrest told the other boy, who raised his eyebrows. His spiked black hair seemed to add another inch to his already impressive height. He looked surprised, but not nervous.

"Really? Glad to see there's someone with a little experience here today. Or are you just clever?" the boy tilted his head to the side, looking curious. He felt as if he had seen this redhead somewhere before, but he couldn't figure out where.

"A little of both, you could say." Forrest felt a little threatened by the much taller male next to him. Never one to be intimidated, however, he looked right up and into the eyes of his competition. Forrest noticed they had an almost golden hue to them. They reminded him of his girlfriend, Jennifer, and her golden eyes. Jennifer had wanted to be there to see him audition, but there was no way she could leave Dobry. Forrest had also assured her that she wasn't missing anything, just tons of people singing terribly.

The tall boy smiled. "I see. Well, I'm singing the same song." Forrest started to frown. "Hey, I have a brilliant idea. We should sing it as a duet." when Forrest hesitated, he continued "Come on, it'll be fun. Plus this way we _know _Ms. Mohes will remember us."

Forrest saw this as his opportunity to show up and bring down this boy. He grinned. "Alright. Deal." the pair shook hands. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name." Forrest remarked, thinking back through all the people he knew from his school.

"That's fine. I don't know yours either. Mines Tyler, but most people call me Ty." The two introduced themselves. They quickly coordinated the duet, who would sing each part, which lines they would sing together. Forrest made small talk about class and sports before the conversation lapsed into silence. That's when Ms. Mohes called for the next person, who happened to be Forrest. "Ready?" Ty asked.

Forrest nodded. "Ready."

Two students walked onstage. Most of the auditorium was empty, a few seats occupied by boys with nothing better to do, and the drama teacher. "I'm Forrest Anderson-Van Kamp," the first student announced.

"And I'm Tyler Baiseford. We will be auditioning for the part of King Arthur." the second one finished. Ms. Mohes started to protest, but the first boy motioned to the piano player to start. The music began and before the teacher could stop him, Forrest started to sing.

"_I'm all alone_

_All by myself_

_There is no one here beside me"_

Tyler picked up the tune when Forrest left off.

"_I'm all alone_

_Quite all alone_

_No one to comfort me or guide me"_

It was the first time either had each other sing. They were both good, causing each to try harder to trump the other.

"_Why is there no one here with me_

_On this long and winding road_

_To lift my heavy load"_

Forrest sang with more passion this time. He tried to act sad and a little oblivious, as the scene called for. Ty watched his partner, then turned away from him, singing his lines.

"_If there were someone here with me_

_How happy I would be"_

Forrest walked in front of Ty here, blocking Ms. Mohes's view of his competitor.

"_But I'm alone"_

Tyler jumped ahead of Forrest, continuing the song

"_Quite all alone"_

Forrest stepped in the way of Ty again

"_All by myself-"_

"_I'm all-"_

"_Alone"_

The pair continued to get in the way of each other, until the chorus.

"_I'm all alone"_

Ty sang with melancholy feeling.

"_He's all alone"_

Forrest sung, rolling his eyes. He cursed himself for letting Ty take the lead, while he had Patsy's part. Making his voice louder, Forrest stepped towards Tyler and waited. He was not going to be just an echo.

"_All by myself"_

"_Except for me"_

"_I cannot face tomorrow"_

"_He cannot face it"_

"_I'm all alone"_

"_Though I am here"_

"_So all alone"_

"_So very near"_

"_No one to share my sorrow"_

The duet partners strained their voices, trying to be the loudest without screaming or cracking. They sang the last line together, and Ms. Mohes stood up clapping. "I think we've found our Arthur!"

Forrest and Ty grinned, both thinking the same thing. One problem. Ms. Mohes didn't say whom she was taking about.

Darren typed 120 words per minute, but it still wasn't fast enough. He needed a direct line from his brain to Microsoft Word so he could get his ideas down and not forget them. When you have characters running around and screaming in your head, you don't have time to hit keys.

"Slow down, man. You're going to get keyboard burn." Matt was used to the intense way his friend typed. But he still had to remind Darren to pace himself or the keyboard would get jammed again. And he did not want a repeat of what was now referred to as the "The Great Keyboard Catastrophe". That had not been a good day.

"Shut up." was Darren's only response. Matt rolled his eyes. You would think, just looking at the casual junior, that he was someone you could strike up any easy conversation with.

"You should get one of those dictation things that writes down what you say automatically." Matthew suggested, slipping a piece of paper from the notebook in his lap.

"Shut up." Darren said again. He became a lot less approachable when he was writing. The blonde boy had still yet to look up from his screen, so he didn't notice Matt gently crumpling his paper into a ball.

A slow smile spread across Matthews face. "Hey Darren. Guess what? I have a-"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Darren cried. And then Matt threw his paper ball. It hit his friend square in the forehead and fell onto the computer, covering the screen. The head full of curls looked up, revealing a red mark from the impact. Darren had murder in his eyes. He saw Matt snickering from across the room. "Get out." Matt made a run for the door, knowing that when pushed, Darren could get violent. Once safely out the door and in the hall, he burst out laughing and Darren could hear him guffawing all the way down the hall.

The junior shook his head. He often wondered why he didn't just go live in Hanover. Even the Stuartian pressure cooker would be more suitable for his passion. There, he could get more than 5 unadulterated minutes to himself. As it is, he already sent a lot of his work to some friends in Hanover to read and edit. Thanks to Gryphyn and Calder, Darren had already completed 4 books. The Hanover pair kept their Windsor friend sane.

It was just then that a little chat bubble popped up on Darren's screen. Every day at exactly 4:30 Gryphyn would Skype chat his friend to make sure he was okay. They would talk for one hour, until Gryph took his shower, then left to eat dinner at precisely 6:00. Calder got the night shift for sanity watch, as he was a much less militant.

Darren replied to Gryphyn without even reading the message. It said the same thing as it always had, everyday for nine months for the last three years "r u ok?" to which he responded accordingly. "Other than a red forehead, yes"

Almost immediately after sending, the other boy simply asked "?"

"paper ball, Matthew." Who and what. It was the standard format. The Hanovers kept a running list of all the things thrown at Darren, and whom they were thrown by. The list had everything from paper airplanes to clocks to mashed potatoes. It also included the time the geometry teacher had thrown a rather large foam disdyakis cube at him to get him to stop typing. The teacher was not reprimanded because everyone else had the same problem, including his parents, who had no interest in pressing charges.

"47x now. Just by Matthew."

"Ik." Darren could keep the list and running total in his head thanks to his eidetic memory. "im thinking of investing in one of those plastic bubbles"

"haha. how's book 5 coming?"

"frustrating. sometimes theyre silent, sometimes they just won't be quiet. And I think the characters find it amusing to wake me at odd hours for writing. Especially this new one. It seems her main goal is to keep me from sleeping."

"Makes me think of a certain pair of freshman twins..."

"Ugh. Don't remind me..."

"I hear Anna and iris r just as crazy at Dobry. Something bout pretending to be each other"

"If u say their names to many times they appear" Darren half joked, not really in the mood to talk about the source of a great amount of stress in his life. It had only been a week since school began but already many people wanted to call up the Brightmans and demand Ian and Alex be transferred far, far away.

"Then I should really stop talking shouldn't I?" Gryphyn typed back, laughing a little. He wondered if the joke had some truth to it. Gryph wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Ian and Alex were, at that particular moment, wandering around in a very large and very cold room on the fourth floor of Windsor. It had been such a long time since anyone had set foot where they were standing that a thick layer of dust coated everything. This place was the stuff of legends. Perhaps not legends other people knew, but around the Brightman household, this room was magic.

The pair were standing in the Caterpillar's lair. Now almost completely empty, the cousins tilted their heads and wondered why their fathers had enjoyed spending time here. As far as they could tell, it was just a big room. There was some archaic technology piled in the corner. A few cords were left on the floor, and in many places wires were sticking out of the wall. It was a sorry sight.

Little did they know, they were being watched by the infamous Caterpillar himself. Han had hooked up a camera in his old dorm before he graduated, and just left it running. He wanted to make sure the place that had kept him so wonderfully sheltered from the outside world was treated with the utmost respect. Han was sure the old gang would get a kick out of the twins living in the lair. It would be his contribution to this year's reunion.

"I think we should move up here." Ian stated, looking up to the rafters. The rooms ceiling was actually the roof. Somehow, Han had managed to connect the rooms on either side and above his and turn it into a sort of penthouse.

"Agreed. The trampoline can go in the corner." Alex nodded, turning round in a circle, mentally measuring and planning where everything would go.

"The game console would fit brilliantly on the far wall."

"And if I'm not mistaken, with a little sound proofing, we could finally use the "Back To The Future" amp."

"Do I see a closet back there that would fit our Nerf artillery?"

"The best part: Mr. Piggenheimer could stay here, with no one knowing." Mr. Piggenheimer was Ian and Alex pet pot bellied pig. The whole family had searched for a school that allowed pet pigs. There were none.

The blonde freshmen walked out of the room, and back down the stairs to find their prefect. Now that they knew what they wanted, no one was going to stop them from moving into what would soon become known as "the brightcave".

A floppy haired junior was quickly walking across campus. He was heading towards the sports center, wanting to fit in a quick swim before he grabbed dinner and started his homework. He once again pushed back the brown hair from his eyes and started to mutter to himself. "Always creeping on Brennan. I wish he would just leave us all alone. He needs to go back to Stuart where he belongs."

Eric picked up his pace, as he grew more worked up. "He knows we don't like him. Why does he always try to push his way into our lives?" now jogging, Eric reached the glass doors of the complex and yanked them open. Bee-lining it for the locker room, he didn't even notice his swim team buddies wave to him. They just shook their heads as he passed, and gave each other knowing looks. It was one of THOSE days.

Eric changed it record time, and rushed into the pool area. Breaking almost every rule about conduct and behavior when near water and cement, he raced forward and dove headfirst into the cool water. Letting the momentum carry him, Eric touched the other side of the pool and came up for air.

The water felt wonderful. Eric took a deep breath, and began swimming laps. Back and forth he went, gaining speed. He pushed himself to go faster still. On his 15th lap, he overshot and hit his head against the cement wall of the pool. Stopping to rub the top of his scalp, he looked around. He was alone.

Eric flipped onto his back and floated. He could feel the pain subsiding, his muscles relaxing. He closed his eyes and unclenched his jaw. Swimming was his stress release. That was the main reason he was so good at it. Living in Windsor, you were either completely mad, and therefore without stress, or sane, and completely overwhelmed with stress. He could put all his anger and pent up energy into his stokes. This way it was harmless and he actually accomplished something.

Just drifting, Eric thought about the source of today's swim. He had never liked Aden. The more he was around him, the less he got along with him. But he had enough self-control to not to lose it and start yelling at Aden. Or at least, he used to. But now that he and Brennan were getting too close, it was harder.

Aden was such a pathetic loser in Eric's opinion. Aden had two friends, Brennan and Fabian. One he followed around like a puppy and the other, well the other one was just as bad as him. Eric believed Fabian had no fire, no purpose. He was just there. But at least he didn't try to talk to or be friends with Eric. Aden was always giving him advice and trying to start a conversation. It was just a constant flow of useless, annoying, and completely neutral remarks. Eric just wanted to explode at him, and tell him to either be quiet, or get something to say.

Today had been the worst. Aden walked up to Eric after biology and started asking about swimming. "Brennan says you think every guy should have a sport. I don't have one. Do you think I could join the swim team? It might be fun for us to have an activity together. We could get to know each other better." Eric had just stared at the blonde boy.

"No." he had told Aden simply, and then started to walk away. But Aden had followed him. He kept asking why he couldn't join. And then he went and told Brennan what he had said. Brennan, being the righteous person he was, confronted Eric. He forced him into letting Aden try out. Brennan even made him promise to put in a good word for Aden. However, Eric had no qualms about breaking promises. Glancing at the clock and seeing it was almost six, Eric sighed heavily and climbed out of the pool. He toweled off and trudged back into the locker room to shower and change before dinner.

Fabian had been making his way to the Warblers' hall when he saw Eric jogging in the direction of the sports center. Fabian just shook his head, knowing what it meant. Eric was pissed again, and once again it was Aden who had caused the problem. He didn't understand why Aden didn't just tell everyone and get it over-with, instead of this trying to win everyone over. But whatever, it was not his choice to make. No, his choices mainly involved what song he was going to sing for the lead. Something older and more classical, or something modern? Those decisions alone where enough for Fabian, with trillions of songs to pick from. He didn't need anything more to worry about.

If Fabian was one of those people who worried about every single problem every single person had, he would have been reduced to a puddle of mush long, long ago. As a result of the general distance Fabian kept from almost everyone, he saw a lot of what people missed. He was always around, but no one noticed him. The boy was just another background character in the show that was their lives. The green-eyed boy often mused on his situation. He was an observer. And he had dirt on everyone. Fabian was usually one of the first to know anything, and could always call what was going to happen. Life hardly surprised him anymore.

Fabian wanted to be shocked. He wanted to be astonished. He wanted something to happen that he couldn't predict. And that's what he got. Walking towards the Dalton fences in his roundabout way to hop over and walk around outside campus, he saw a small girl with glasses standing in front of the Dalton Museum. She looked both awe-struck and lost. Always someone to help out, Fabian approached her. "Can I help you? Are you lost?"

"Wha-?" she half said, tearing her eyes from staring up at the imposing building. Turning around, she almost bumped into Fabian. "Oh. Hi." she looked up at him and smiled. "No, I'm fine. I've just never seen anything quite so impressive." the boy looked surprised, the museum wasn't that great after all. As if reading his mind, she explained, "I come from a really small town. Like, maybe 250 population, farming in the middle of Iowa, small." Fabian just nodded.

"Oh. I was just wondering, because I haven't seen you before, and I know almost everyone who comes to this museum." Fabian looked down at his feet, and shifted uncomfortably. Not knowing what else to do, he made up an excuse to leave. "Anyway, I should probably go. Homework and stuff." The girl just nodded, and they both started to walk away.

"Wait." she called. He stopped and looked. "What's your name?"

"Fabian. What's yours?"

"Theresa."

At that moment, a taller, thinner, older female opened the door and walked out. "What are you doing? Why aren't you inside? I don't care if you _are _a genius, you don't just wander off without me! Can I help you?" she yelled, first at Theresa, then at Fabian. She was glaring at him, waiting for an answer. Fabian was too focused on her hair to notice or care. It was royal blue. "Excuse me! Would you please bugger off!" When Fabian still didn't respond, she walked right up to him and waved her hand in his face. "Earth to what-ever-your-name-is! Don't you know it's not polite to stare?"

'Bold.' was Fabian's first reaction. His next one was to take two steps back. "I'm sorry. I kind of zoned out there. I wasn't staring." the blue haired girl rolled her eyes. Up-close, she was disheveled. She had dark, smudged make up and her dirty, torn clothes clung to her akwardly. "Honestly. I had just asked your friend if she was lost, but she said she wasn't so I left. Then she asked my name. And then you came out and started screaming." the boy explained, a bit intimidated by such a forward person. The girl looked back at her friend, still standing on the steps to the museum. When Theresa nodded confirmation, the girl backed off.

"Ah. Well, okay then. Sorry to yell at you. But you really shouldn't stare." Of course, her saying that didn't stop Fabian from doing it. Jogging back up the stairs, she hooked her arm in Theresa's and started to lead her into the building. However, Theresa stopped her and whispered something in the older girl's ear, gesturing to Fabian. She just nodded and turned back to him. "For future reference, I'm Sparrow." Then the pair entered the museum, leaving Fabian standing alone outside, completely stunned.


End file.
